Apparatus for fire finishing glass articles



Julie 25, 1929. h J. M. LENTS El AL 1,718,654

APPARATUS FOR FIRE FINISHING GLASS ARTICLES Filed-May 27, 1927 3 Sheets-sheaf 1 June 25, 1929. J. M. LENTs ET L APPARATUS FOR FIRE- FINISHING GLASS ARTICLES Filed May 27, 192'! s sheds-sheet 2 8 m. M m z 1 w 1% 4M 1 w A. z. N4 m m M I. o FE, i ..\I v M hum a w s I2 1 3 o 0 4 1 Q 3 o! w w I I June 25, 1929.

APPARATUS FOR FIRE FINISHING GLASS ARTICLES Filed May 27, 1927 3 Shets-Sheet 3 'n' P l a Q 23 13 5 2e 33 32.

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' J. M. LI-IINTS ET AL 1,718,654

Patented June 25, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MURL LENTS AND FRANK R. IMILLER, OF EVAN$VILLE, TNDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO THE OWENS BOTTLE COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORYEORATIUN OF CHIC.

APPARATUS FOR FIRE FINISEING- GLASS ARTICLES.

Application filed May 27,

The present invention relates to improve- 'i'ients in apparatus for fire finishing glass articles and is particularly adapted lior use with a continuous conveyor which transfers articles from' av forming machine to the receiving end oil? anannealing leer, as taught for example in our Patent Number 1,626,735 dated May 3, 1927.

Fire finishing of glass articles is sometimes accomplished by holding articles one at a time at a fire finishing station and projecting an acetylene gas flame upon the surfaces to be lire finished. Although this method of fire finishing articles has proven entirely satisfactory as regards the results obtained, the utilization of acetylene gas or the like :tuel to provide an intense fiame has proven to be costly, and from this viewpoint such a method objectionable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fire finisher designed to use ordinary city gas as a fuel and thereby minimize the cost of operation.

Another object is to provide a fire finisher by which several articles are simultaneously held at a fire finishing station beneath a series of lmrners, the holding means operatin with the conveyor to effect a step-byste'p advance of the articles from one burner to the next succeeding burner whereby each article is imlividually treated by the several burners before passing beyoml the fire finishing station. This construction, whereby the articles are held for a period of time beneath each of the burners, provides means to heat articles to such a degree that fins, cracks, and like surface irregularities are eliminated.

Other objects will be apparent hereimitter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a plan view of the fire finisher.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line ILL-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view taken substantially along the line 1lI-IlI of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 a .view taken substantially along the line IV-IV of Fig.

Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig. l, showing the article holding jaws separated, and the means for contriiiliing the jaw movement.

Fig. (i is a detail perspective view of one jaw of the article holder and its carrier.

The bottles or other articles to be fire finished are automatically transferred. from a forming machine (not shown) to the recciving end of an annealing leer (not shown) by an endless conveyor 8 which travels upon a suitable frame 9 supported on uprightslO. During the transfer of the articles from the 'li'orming machine to the leer, they are brought by the conveyor to a fire finishing station where they are held in groups for a predetermined period of time while flames are projected upon the upper portions for the purpose cl removing irregular surface TOI'DIZLUODS, particularly from the sealing surfaces. 7

The fire finishing apparatus arranged at the fire finishing station, includes an article holder so formed that it simultaneously holds several articles at said station." for treatment. This holder is operated in timed relation. to the ej .ction of articles from the forming machine so that an article is released il'rom the holder and another one is received therein each time an article is ejected from the machine. These articles are held stationary beneath each of the burners oi" the group before being finally released for transfer to the leer. Thus, the upper portions of the ware are gradually brought to the desired temperature so that a sinooth finish is obtained.

Each of the two jaws 11 of the article holder (Fig. comprises a strip of metal or other suitable material so formed that the jaws when brought together provide a series of article receiving pockets 12 in which bottles or other articles are held spaced apart while being fire finished. Vertically spaced bosses 13 are formed onv the jaws and are interconnected. by webs 1+2 spaced apart to provide openings 15 .into which actuating lingers 23 project (Figs. 5 and (3). Supporting rods 16 extend outwardly from the vertically spaced bosses 13 and have their outer ends interconnected by bars l7 which serve to maintain proper relation between said rods. These rods are supported on grooved rollers 18 mounted on brackets 15) arranged at opposite sides of the conveyor 8. One of these brackets 19 shown at the right of Fig. 2, supports an intermediate grooved roller 20 which is dis hosed between the two rods 1(S'to assist the other rollers in providing smooth operation. of the holder jaw. The brackets also mount adjustz'il'ile stops which engage the webs 14; at times to limit movement of the jaws. The rods 16 carrying the jaw at the left of Fig. 2, are guided between a pair of horizontally grooved rollers 18 and a grooved supporting bracket 21 in which the lower rod 16 slides. This bracket 21 is mounted on an arm 22 extending forwardly from the bracket 19 which supports the two horizontally aligned rollers 18.

The article holding jaws 11 are moved to vard and away from each other at proper intervals to allow a step-by-step advance oi the articles fron'i one pocket to the next sueceeding one due to continuous movement oi the conveyor 8. 'llhemechanism ,itor actuating the aws. includes a pair of fingers 23 fixed to the upper ends of shafts 2i mounted tor oscillative movement in bearings 25' on the frame 9 which supports the conveyor 8 (l 2 and The lower ends of these shafts 2d are linked together by a pair of short bars 26 whose inner ends overlap each other, and are formed with slots 27 through which a connecting pin 28 extends. This pin 28 is carried by a block 29 interposed betweenlthe slotted ends of said. bars an d is sui tably. connected to one end. of a coil spring 30 whose other end is secured to an apertured. ear 31 formed on. one 01'' the b 'ackets or linkslO supporting the conveyor. Thus, it is seen that the coil spring and link arrangement operates to yieldably hold the jaws 11 in the position shown in Fig. 4 so that articles will be momentarily held beneath each burner of the group. at the fire finishing station. n

One of: the fingers 23 is formed. with an ex tension 32 at the opposite side of its supporting shaft 21, said extension having pivotal: connection to a, rod 33 suitably connected to a piston 34 of an air motor This air motor 35 adapted to be operated in proper timed. relation to .the ware ejecting operations of theyliorming machine so that bottles will arrive at the fire finishing station and be discharged there-from for passage to theleer at proper time intervals, as stated heretofore. The air motor 35 is mounted upon the forwardly extending arm 22 (Figs. 2 and and operates to move the jaws outwardly pern'iitting release of bottles from the holder one at a time, movement of the remaining bottles to the next adjacent pocket, and. entry oi another bottle into the hold The burners 40 are spaced longitudinally oi the conveyor 8 at the fire finishing station and depend from a header 41. into one end of which or other fuel is injected from a supply pipe 4-2. This pipe may have direct connection to an ordinary city main. The header 4l1which supports the group. of burners 10 includes an upward extension 413 connected to an arm ll extending transversely 01" the conveyor at a point above the bottle holder. This arm 44 is formed with slots 45 through which bolts 46 extend to provide adjustable connection be tween said extension 43 and the si'ipporting arm. This arm 4 1 extends from a plate JLT, vertically adjustable on a bar 48 rising from the holder supporting bracket 19, said plate l7 having bolt and slot connection with a pair oi? bars 49 (Fig. 1) which in turn are slidably connected to the vertical extension 48 (Fig. The unit including the extension 48 and transverse arm el-iiis movable up and down relative to the bracket 19 by means of an adjusting screw 50 whose lower end may be swiveled to said unit while its upper end is threaded through a lalcrally extending car 51 formed at the upper end of said upward extension 4-8. Thus, the burners may be adjusted vertically, transversely and longitudinally relative to the conveyor, assuring accurate positioning of the burners over the articles held at the fire finishing station.

The operation of this apparatus may be stated as follows: The bottles or other articles are brought to the fire finishing station on the endless conveyor 8, and as shown in Fig. 2}, are lreld at said station in groups by the jaws of the article holder. The pocket formation is such that the articles are uniformly spaced apart and aligned with the downwardly projecting burners 10 so that the flames projected from the burners play upon the sealing surfaces and upper portions of the articles, melting such surfaces sufiiciently to eliminate cracks, fins and irregular fornnttions. The jaws 12 of the holder are alternately moved toward and from each other in timed relation to the discharge o1 articles from the forming machine and are held apart a sufiicient period of time to pen mit the continuously moving conveyor to advance the articles from one pocket of the holder to the next succeeding pocket. At the same time, one article passes beyond the fire finishing station for delivery to the annealing leer, while anothe' article enters the opposite end of the holder "tor lire finishing (Fig. 3). Periodic actuation of the article holding jaws efiects a step by step advance of the articles through the lire finishing station so that each article is individually.treated tor a prialetcrmined period of time by each burner, thereby insuring sufficient heating oil the upper portions of the articles to elin'iinate fins, cracks and other objectiomiblc surface 'IilOIHHItlOHS.

The burner unit may be adjusted rcrtically relative to the article holder, permitting use of the apparznzus tor fire finishing articles 01 varying heights. The adjustable support forthe burner unit permits lateral adjustment of the latter relative to ll article holder so that accurate alignment ol the burners with the articles being fire finished is readily attainable.

Various modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of our invention.

lVhat we claim is:

1. The combination of a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, a series of longitudinally spaced burners at said station, and means independent of the conveyor to hold articles beneath all of said burners simultaneously.

2. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, a holder adapted to hold a group of articles at said station, means ineluding a series .of burners to apply heat to the upper ends of said articles simultaneously, and means to actuate the article holder at predetermined time intervals to release one article at a time from the holder and cause a step-by-step advance of the remaining articles in the holder.

3. The combination of a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finislr ing station, a series of longitudinally spaced burners atsaid station, means independent of the conveyor to simultaneously hold articles beneath all of said burners, and means actuating the holding means permitting the conveyor to effect a step-by-step advance of articles in the holding means for individual treatment by each of said burners.

1. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, a fire finisher arranged at said stationincluding a series of longitndinally spaced depending burners, means to hold the articles at said station, and means operated in timed relation to the conveyor movements to actuate said article holder whereby the articles are advanced by the conveyor from one point to another in the holder for individual treatment by each of the burners.

5. In a fire finishing apparatus, the combination of a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing position, a pair of gripping jaws constructed to provide a series of individual article holding pockets, burners individual to the pockets, and means to actuate the jaws permitting release of one article at a time from the jaws and a stepby-step advance of the remaining articles to the next succeeding pockets in said holder.

6. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, an article holder arranged in proximity to the upper side of the conveyor and comprising a pair of jaws formed with individual article holding pockets, means to actuate said jaws whereby the articles are permitted to advance with the conveyor from one pocket to the next adjacent pocket, and fire finishing means to operate on the articles when in said pockets.

7. The combination of a horizontally travelling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, an article holder arranged in proximity to the upper side of the conveyor at said station and comprising a pair oi jaws formed with individual article holding pockets, means to actuate said jaws whereby the articles are permitted to advance with the conveyor from one pocket to the next succeeding pocket, burners individual to the pockets to project flames against articles held in said pockets, and means adjustably supporting said burners permitting lateral and vertical adjustment relative to the pockets.

8. The combination of a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a predetermined station, an article holder at said station comprising a pair of coacting jaws formed with individual pockets to simultaneously hold a group of articles spaced apart, and an automatic means to alternately open and close the pockets in timed relation to movement of the conveyor permitting advance of articles from one pocket to the next succeeding pocket.

9. In combination, a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a predetermined station, means to arrest movement of articles at said station including a pair of coacting aws constructed to form individual article hold ing pockets, guide rods extending outwardly from said jaws, rollers guiding and supporting said rods, and means actuating the. jaws in timed relation to the movement of said conveyor, causing the articles to be mementarily held in each pocket before being finally released from said jaws.

10. In combination, a continuously traveling conveyor by which a series of articles are brought in succession to a predetermined station, means to arrest movement of articles at said station including a pair of coacting jaws constructed to form individual article holding pockets, guide rods extending outwardly from said jaws, rollers guiding and supporting said rods, means actuating the jaws in timed relation to movement of said conveyor, causing the articles to be momentarily held in each pocket before being finally released from said jaws, and means to project flames upon. the upper ends of articles while held in said pockets.

11. The combination of a continuously traveling conveyor by which articles are brought in succession to a fire finishing station, a tire finisher at said station including a series of downwardly projecting burners, article holding means positioned at all times at said station operating With said conveyor to cause a step-by-step' advance ofthe articles beneath said burners whereby articles are momentarily held in position foi individual heat treatment by each of the burners, and laterally and vertically adjustable supporting means for said burners.

12. In fire finishing apparatus, the com bination of a series of burners, and means including a continuously travelii'l g conveyor for bringing a series of articles in successsion into fire finishing position and: causing each article to be brought into operative re-' lation to the several burners in succession, said means being timed and arranged to supply articles concomitantly to all the burners.

13. In fire finishing apparatus, the combination of a series of burners, means including a continuously traveling conveyor for advancing a series of articles step-by-step into operative relation to the burners and causing each article to be brought into positions to be acted upon by each oi? the burn ers in succession, and means to maintain said articles in such relation that as each article is movedbeyond a burner, the next succeeding article is brought into-ogerative relation to said burner.

Signed at Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, this 23rd day of May, 1927.

JOHN MURL LENTS. FRANK R. MILLER. 

